Corporation tax in the EU: 107 billion Euro lost

Back in 2000, the effective corporate tax rate in the Eurozone was 18.4 percent. By 2011, this had fallen to 12.5 percent. This may not seem like a lot but it is. This is equivalent to approximately €107 billion reduction in Eurozone corporate tax revenue. €107 billion.

Imagine if that revenue was available to the Eurozone: less tax on labour, more expenditure on public services and social protection, higher investment in telecommunications, renewable energy, and education (let’s not forget that there are 76 million people in the Eurozone at risk of poverty and social exclusion). That €107 billion would mean a significant boost to domestic demand which would, in turn, mean more prosperous markets for exporting firms to operate in.

A cross political party agreement in the European Parliament puts pressure on EU member states to step up the fight for corporate transparency

Soon it might be a lot harder for criminals, tax evaders, corrupt politicians and other money launderers to hide their identity and their illicit funds behind anonymous shell companies, following a key vote today in the European Parliament.

European FTT

The official communiqué of the meeting of the French German Financial and Economic Council on 27th of January between Moscovici, Christian Noyer (Head of French central bank), Wolfgang Schäuble and Sigmar Gabriel (German vice chancellor from the SPD) has been published on the website of the finance ministry in Berlin:

FTT in German coalition agreement

The coalition treaty between German Social Democrats (SPD) and Christian Democrats has been concluded.

As far as the FTT is concerned the relevant part reads (in my translation) as follows:

"We want to implement rapidly a broad based financial transaction tax in the framework of the Enhanced Cooperation Procedure in the EU. Such a tax should include preferably all financial instruments, in particular shares, bonds, investment certificates, currency transactions as well as derivatives. The tax should be designed in a way, which prevents tax avoidance. The effects of the tax on pensions, small investors and the real economy have to be assessed and negative consequences should be avoided, while undesired business models should be pushed back."

EU Commission is not giving up on FTT

The European Commission has said it is not giving up on a planned financial transactions tax for 11 EU countries after a legal opinion said it was in breach of EU law.

"The European Commission is absolutely confident in the legality of the tax we have proposed. We reject any claims that it goes against the treaties or that it compromises the single market," EU tax commissioner Algirdas Semeta said on Saturday (14 September) after a meeting of EU finance ministers in Vilnius.